CORPORATE PROFILES SHOWCASE OFFERS A LOOK INSIDE BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
Editor’s Note: The staff of AsphaltPro magazine is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the Corporate Profiles supplement. Statements made have not been verified, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice or making purchasing decisions.
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he staff at AsphaltPro magazine sought a way to give original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) a chance to speak directly to asphalt professionals. We wanted to give the partners in our mission the chance to show you who they are and what they bring to the market to enhance your bottom line. We posed a set of questions to those partners who support us, thus your operations, and left their answers raw and real. This special section to the July edition is our inaugural Corporate Profiles supplement and it represents an inside look at the OEMs who want to help you make the most of your business. Companies like Hotmix Parts & Service®—co-located with Stansteel on page 46—shared basics that make sense for owners to consider: “From our favorable location, only minutes from United Parcel Service’s worldwide air hub, we can often ship items as late as 7 p.m. for delivery to your hot-mix asphalt plant facilities the next morning.” But this supplement offers more than business basics. Herein, you’ll see company strategies among the mission statements shared with you. The asphalt industry has its share of mergers and acquisitions among companies, such as those taking place under the Colas USA, CRH Cos. or Martin Marietta Materials Inc. umbrellas. Manufacturers supplying the equipment and services to enable operations have similar changes taking place. For example, Command Alkon of Birmingham, Alabama, took Libra Systems Inc. and Ruckit Inc. into its family in November and December 2020 respectively. With this supplement to AsphaltPro magazine, Astec Industries Inc. spells out its mission with all its former subsidiaries folding into OneASTEC. Perhaps one of the more surprising acquisitions in Q4 2020 was that of Volvo CE divesting its North American Blaw-Knox paver business and associated assets to Gencor Industries, an asphalt plant equipment manufacturer. Gencor’s spokesperson provided, “We offer highway-class pavers coupled with the most extensive line of screeds to the industry; all backed by a worldclass international service network.” Those pavers include performance features such as Blaw-Kontrol and the Blaw-Knox Ultimat screed platform, which is a double-width screed that doesn’t require bolt-on extensions. Among the mergers and divestitures are workforce development initiatives. Hotmix Parts & Service spoke of its training, saying, “For a number of years, we have offered our Hotmix University courses to familiarize newer plant and management personnel with some of the intricacies of the hot-mix asphalt industry.” The team at Wirtgen devoted a great deal of its corporate profile explaining the nuances of its Center for Training and Technology (CTT), which has seen updates and expansions in the past few years. You’ll see one of the areas in which we invited OEMs to share philosophies was that of environmental stewardship. OEMs are invested in helping con-
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TOP: Gencor offers the proprietary “Blaw-Kote” on its Blaw-Knox pavers, which is an environmentally friendly pre-treat system designed to aide in asphalt cleanup. BOTTOM: Reliable Asphalt Products, on page 44, is the distributor for Vulcan burners. tractors and producers reach their net zero goals. It’s natural to think of the strides made toward zero emissions at the asphalt plant, but manufacturers are looking out for your best practices at the paving site as well. Companies like TransTech Systems out of New York, while not eligible to participate in the supplement, still offer environmental “credit” to contractors. “Most people don’t realize that TransTech’s PQI 380 assists our customers in being good stewards of the environment,” the company shared. “Not only does the PQI 380 not emit any harmful nuclear radiation, but the primary benefits derive from its ability to help our customers build longer life roads with smoother surfaces, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency of all vehicles and reducing energy consumption.” Also in the field, “Blaw-Knox is always looking for ways to improve performance while reducing the environmental effects normally associated with operating heavy machinery,” the company shared. They listed the example of their power-adaptive engine for reducing ambient noise pollution and improving fuel efficiency by lowering engine rpm. These innovations and optimizations join the arsenal of product and service options available to our industry. AsphaltPro invites you to thumb through the profiles included herein for a look inside the companies bringing those options to you.
